Welcome to Apnea Board ! As a guest, you are limited to certain areas of the board and there are some features you can't use. To post a message, you must create a free account using a valid email address.
Login or Create an Account

(01-04-2016, 02:30 PM)Breathetonight Wrote: Last winter into spring I posted several inquiries about camping off the grid with a CPAP. This is to follow up on what worked for me. Our camping is by way of a small FG trailer with DC power on board meaning battery and no generator. WE can plug into shore power when available but we do go off grid for weeks at a time.

Thanks for the advice
Breathetonight

I wanted to try this about ten years ago and decided to try kayak Boundary Waters camping north of Ely, MN. My setup was simple and effective worked well but was super heavy. at 75 lbs. UGH. setup was as follows:

That's it. The battery was 75 lbs. and more than a problem to portage and stow in a kayak, 17 ft sea kayak, but I was determined and did it. I spliced all 3 solar panels together in parallel and then connected them to the battery placing the whole thing in full sun all day while we explored. It ran my machine a full 8 hours each night as the battery would charge enough on the panels the next day to run the machine. it was pretty primitive and simple but worked well. I still have the setup and during times of bad weather I charge up the yellow top in the garage and keep it handy in case the power goes out. I actually used it on several occasions. No power, sleeping not an issue.

(01-04-2016, 02:30 PM)Breathetonight Wrote: My main CPAP is a ResMed S10 Auto which requires 24V. To avoid the inverter / converter problem i shopped around and bought a used Phillips system one series 50. These require 12power up front so no inverting or converting.

BT:
Thanks for your post - I like your setup!

I was very annoyed to find that the S9 & S10 units from ResMed use 24VDC

Q: In your search for a 12V CPAP how did you settle in on the Phillips Series 50? Do you happen to know of other CPAP units that work on 12VDC?

I'm about to start a project similar to yours for a long motorycycle camping expedition ... I intend to get an AGM battery large enough to last one night (plus a safety margin) and then recharge it daily during the day's motorcycle ride by hooking it into the electrical system of the bike.

"Q: In your search for a 12V CPAP how did you settle in on the Phillips Series 50? Do you happen to know of other CPAP units that work on 12VDC?"

NCZzzz you asked the above question. Was just reading the manual for my C-100 CPAP Battery Pack and the ResMed is the only 24 volt listed. Respironics and DeVilbiss operate from 12V direct. Fisher & Paykel don't have a DC capability option and require the use of a sine wave power inverter.

ResMed switched over to 24 v with the S-9. My S-8 Elite was a 12 V unit and had a standard 12 V coax barrel plug (though the sneaky snakes at ResMed wired the plugs backwards so as to make it non-standard). Have a new S-8 Autoset II with the same setup. I understand that some of the S-8s like the Bi-PAP and V-PAPs may have be set up for 24 V even back then. Those were the good old days when the power supply was internal and not a brick.

On the DeVillbiss Intellipap, it, like the old S-8 has two inputs: the 12V coax barrel plug, and a two-prong AC input. On the DeVillbiss, though, you can leave a battery plugged in and the AC at the same time. If the AC fails, the unit shuts off the heat to the humidifier (if installed) and automatically switches over to the DC source. When AC comes back, on, it switches back over to AC main power. You never know it until you wake up and see the microwave or coffee pot flashing "12:00". I have my PR560 auto set up similarly now with an external powergate and 12 v 35 AH battery. If I ever intend to fire the S-9 up again, I need to get one of the ResMed 24 DC converters, snip off the cigar lighter plug and add PowerPole connection.

Oh ...... maybe do that this week. I am estimating the PR 560 is coming up on 2,500 hours in a month or so. Which I think is about what the S=9 had on it when I took it out of service. I will probably swap them out every 6 months or so - spread wear out. I would like to just get a new 560 and rotate it and be done with the S-9s. IIRC, at one point in time, there was a non-profit that was recycling more heavily used CPAPs for folks that could not afford them. I know #2 has limits on hours that they will accept. I think it was like 600 or 1,000 total?

(01-10-2016, 09:57 PM)OMyMyOHellYes Wrote: ResMed switched over to 24 v with the S-9. My S-8 Elite was a 12 V unit and had a standard 12 V coax barrel plug (though the sneaky snakes at ResMed wired the plugs backwards so as to make it non-standard). Have a new S-8 Autoset II with the same setup. I understand that some of the S-8s like the Bi-PAP and V-PAPs may have be set up for 24 V even back then. Those were the good old days when the power supply was internal and not a brick.

OMMOHY

Thanks for all that info!
The humidifier tanks for the s7 and s8 are detachable correct?
If so one of those with an HME and a 12V custom cable might be the right way to go ....

NCzzz you asked how I settled on the PR system one 50 series. I was looking for a 12V unit I could find on Craigslist at a cost effective price. My initial search revealed that Phillips is the most common 12V on CL. Research revealed that the Phillips series 50 series uses the same power cord set up as all the earlier Phillips units. The Phillips system one 60 uses a power cord that will work only on it. So, I went for unit whose power cord had the widest application. Also, the PR system one 50 or 60 have blower units that are relatively small and independent of the humidifier meaning you can leave the humidifier home. If you have any questions I strongly suggest that you call one or more the Suppliers in the list and get to tech support. I found them to be most helpful and knowledgeable.
Before buying off CL find instructions on this site on how to get into the clinicians menu, it's easy. There you can see how many hours the blower has on it and you can get instructions on how to set the unit up for your needs. You can also find instructions on this site on how to make a simple, easy, cost effective Manometer to check the correctness of the pressure output.

Useful Links

INFORMATION ON APNEA BOARD FORUMS OR ON APNEABOARD.COM SHOULD NOT BE CONSIDERED AS MEDICAL ADVICE. ALWAYS SEEK THE ADVICE OF A PHYSICIAN BEFORE SEEKING TREATMENT FOR MEDICAL CONDITIONS, INCLUDING SLEEP APNEA. INFORMATION POSTED ON THE APNEA BOARD WEB SITE AND FORUMS ARE PERSONAL OPINION ONLY AND NOT NECESSARILY A STATEMENT OF FACT.